A J.Walter Thompson Intelligence (JWTI) report on the Summer Fancy Food Show, North America’s largest speciality food and beverage event held annually in New York, shows a mix of new and retro in the latest in food trends.

Protein in snacks and Athlesiure snacking

If high-calorie energy bars are out, protein snacks are now in. The new high protein snacks are not only for gym junkies. The every day, busy consumer is now looking for high-in-protein snacks, such as bars, to provide enough energy just to get through the day.

Broth to go

Bone broth first came about as a health food trend in 2015, but it can take up to 20 hours of simmering to cook. It is because of this, JWTI says “ready to go” bone broth is now taking off in the US. It named a brand called “Epic” which has recently launched a range of different flavoured bone broths available for purchase in America.

Lard

Lard may have once been considered an old fashion way of cooking but it now making a comeback. The Summer Fancy Food Show included a showcase of lards which consumers can purchase ready to use. JWTI said lard can appeal to consumers who want to help ensure no part of an animal is wasted.

“Swavory”

“Swavory” is a word used to describe foods which are both savoury and sweet. JWTI named a number of foods such as chili bacon jam, sweet flavoured hummus and salted yoghurt drinks as emerging “swavory” foods. Swavory was included in JWTI’s ‘The Future 100’ report as a food trend to watch in 2016.

Vegan “honee”

Where many of the trends identified above seem to signal a return to meat-based food products, there are also new products appealing to vegans. JWT Intelligence identified a new trend in vegan food, vegan “honee”. Instead of being produced by bees, the honee is apple based and includes lemon juice and cane sugar. JWTI said the honee trend follows its ‘Food and Drink’ report which highlighted “New Omnivores” – millennials who increasingly believe in sustainable or meat-free eating. More vegan alternatives such as “honee” is expected as this type of thinking continues to grow, says JWTI. Australian Food News observes it is ironic that a sugar-based artificial honey is being promoted as a vegan alternative to natural honey produced by bees. AFN notes that in some countries, fines have been issued for “fake honey” produced using sugar as a substitute.